Lake Shore Document

TranscriptHello...I am on the hillside listening to two coveys of quail call back and forthThey've been slowly getting closer over the last 15 minutes, and I think they're going to link upI saw one groupThey had a bunch of fluffy little hatchlings running aroundI don't know how big the other group is thoughI'm below a range of mountains with snow and avalanche gullies, forests up the sides, larch and fir, ponderosa pineAh, wow, a western tanager just landed in a pine treeI haven't seen one yet this yearThat was coolThey're bright, bright orange, bright red, yellow, golden, crazy looking birdsProbably the most brilliant bird in the west maybeI guess there's lazuli buntings out here tooOr is it indigo buntings?....that quail is trying to get the other quails to come overThere's boulders on this hillside, and one of my favorite tea plants which is wild tarragonI gathered about eight stems of it just nowIt's a good spot for itThere's a bunch of plantsIt's nice to be hereI feel like my mind is already clearing out from the dampness of the coastal, humid, cold Salish SeaUp here in the high mountains, a divergent part of the Rockies above a big lakeOn a glacial moraineI guess I wanted to offer this today as just kind of way of saying of thanks to peopleEverybody that's supported me over the yearsEveryone who listens to this podcastI guess these quail are listening to it right nowI just feel really gratefulI'm kind of a recovering pessimist, you know, so a lot of that has to do with gratitudePessimism is kind of this idea that there's no safety. Or that things are never going to really be what you wantAnd the opposite of that, obviously, is gratitude for what you haveWhich is actually simple, but for a pessimistic mind, it's harder than it might seemAnd there's a lot to say about pessimismIt definitely comes from damageDefinitely comes from painIt's definitely a protective mechanismBut I feel like I'm growing less and less pessimistic as time goes on, which kind of relieves a huge burden on a personI heard a meadowlark this morning as I was runningDiscovered some physiological linkages between my lumbar and knee that have to do with nervesResearched this type of technique called prickly...prickling nerve stimulation technique, which is developed by a Japanese neurosurgeonAnd it's a technique that's used to stimulate the nerves in the lumbar spineWhich is developed by a Japanese neurosurgeonNeurologist named DrNagata, I thinkBasically, it's the idea that our skin is a direct door of access to our nervous systemWhich means that we wear our nervous system on our sleevesWhich is something to remember, as sensitive humansI think we're all very sensitive, actuallyUnless we've been damaged to the point where we've been able to turn it off, or we've learned how to turn it off, or have been in a mode of having it shut offAnd it's really fascinating to note that there can be healing in the skin and in the tissues, just by stimulating the nerves around areas of traumaAnd it's interesting to note that, more or less, that's what acupuncture functions on, to access the meridians and the internal organs as wellKind of working with the nervous system in a lot of waysI kind of see these quail as part of the Earth's nervous systemAs showing what the weather's doing, and where the good grass seeds and the insects are right nowIt's quiet here, I like itIt's easy to get away, just be in a quiet space that feels really bigI like thatI like to be able to wanderIt feels like it clears my mindIt's starting to rain a little bitAnd I've run out of things to sayI'm gonna walk down this draw and back to the van and head into town, get some groceries and finish settling in to my friend's house where I'll be for the summer doing rangeland surveys out here until I go to school in the fallGot a condo in VictoriaEverything's lining up it seemsI feel really luckyThank you for your support, and thank you for listening. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.walkaround.run